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Dallas is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States.
The city covers 385 square
miles (997 km²) and is the county
seat of Dallas County.As of 2005, U.S. Census estimates put Dallas at a population of 1.2 million. The city is the main cultural and economic center
of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area—at over 5.8 million
people, it is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Dallas is recognized as a world-class
city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group &
Network.

Dallas
was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city on 2 February1856. The city is known globally as a center
for telecommunications, computer technology, banking, and transportation. It is
the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States and lacks any navigable link to the sea. Dallas' prominence despite this
comes from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, its position
along numerous railroad lines, and its powerful industrial and financial
industries.

CaddoNative Americans inhabited the Dallas area before it was claimed in the 1500s, along with the rest of Texas, as a part of the Spanish Province of New Spain. The area
was near to French territory, but the boundary of the Spanish-speaking
territory was moved upward in 1819 with the Adams-Onís
Treaty.Present-day Dallas remained under Spanish rule until 1821,
when Mexico declared
independence from Spain. The land that would become Dallas became part of the
state of Coahuila
y Tejas in the new nation. In 1836, the Republic of Texas broke from Mexico to become an independent nation. It remained an independent
nation for nearly 10 years. In 1839, four years into the Republic's existence, John Neely Bryan surveyed the area around present-day Dallas. Two years later in 1841, he
founded the city of Dallas on a site where several Caddo trails in intersected
at a rare natural ford on the Trinity River. In 1846 the Republic of Texas was annexed by
the United States and Dallas County was established.

According to the city's own official website, the origin of the city's
name is a mystery. Bryan stated only that it was named "after my friend
Dallas." It has often been claimed that both the county and the city were
named after George
Mifflin Dallas, the eleventh United StatesVice President at the time. However, there is
no evidence that Bryan ever met George Mifflin Dallas, and the area was called Dallas several years before the latter was elected.
Other leading "Dallas" candidates are:

1. Commodore Alexander James Dallas, brother of George Mifflin Dallas,
stationed in the Gulf of Mexico; 2. Walter R. Dallas, who fought at San Jacinto; 3. James L. Dallas, Walter's brother and a Texas Ranger; 4. Joseph Dallas of
Arkansas, who lived in the Cedar Springs area in 1843, and moved from
Washington County (near Bryan's land holdings in Crawford County) to the Dallas
area a few years after Bryan's arrival.

Dallas
was just another small town dotting the Texas frontier until after the American
Civil War in which it was part of the Confederate States of America. The city paid the Houston and Central Texas RailroadUS$5,000 to shift its route 20 miles (32 km) to the west and
build its north-south tracks through Dallas, rather than through Corsicana as planned.
A year later, Dallas leaders could not pay the Texas and Pacific Railroad to locate there, so they devised a
way to trick the Railroad. Dallas had a rider attached to a state law which
required the railroad to build its tracks through Browder Springs—which turned
out to be just south of Main
Street. In 1873, the major north-south and east-west Texas railroad routes intersected in Dallas, thus ensuring its future as a commercial center.

Dallas in 1905

By the turn of the twentieth century Dallas was the leading drug,
book, jewelry, and wholesale liquor market in the Southwestern United States. It also quickly became the center
of trade in cotton, grain, and even buffalo. It was the
world's leading inland cotton market, and it still led the world in manufacture
of saddlery and cotton gin machinery.
As it further entered the 20th century, Dallas transformed from an agricultural
center to a center of banking, insurance, and other
businesses.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Dallas underwent the building boom which
produced a distinctive contemporary profile for the downtown area and a
prominent skyline, influenced by nationally acclaimed architects. By the 1980s,
when some oil industry companies relocated to Houston, Dallas was
beginning to benefit from a burgeoning technology boom (driven by the growing
Computer, Microchip, and Telecommunications industries), while continuing to be
a center of banking, insurance, and business. Because of the immense worldwide
success of the hit television series Dallas,
the city became one of the most internationally recognizable U.S cities during
the 80s. In the 1990s, Dallas became known as the "Silicon Prairie",
similar to California's Silicon Valley.

Like many major US cities, Dallas has experienced an "urban
renewal" in the 2000s. From 1988 to 2005, not a single high-rise structure
was built within the downtown freeway loop, and most new and upscale homes and
subdivisions were being built in Richardson and Plano. In 2005, three
towers began construction amid residential conversions and smaller residential
projects. By the year 2010, the North Central Texas Council of Governments expects 10,000 residents to live within the loop. Just north, Uptown is one of the
hottest real estate markets in the country.

Dallas
receives approximately 37.1 inches (942.3 mm) of rain per year,
much of which is delivered in the spring.

Dallas
has a humid subtropical climate, yet this part of Texas also tends
to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer. In the
winter, strong cold fronts from the north pass through Dallas, plummeting
temperatures well below freezing. The average annual snowfall in Dallas is 4.5
inches (114.3 mm), with snowfall seen six days out of the year and snow
accumulation seen five days out of the year.Occasionally, warm and humid air
from the south overrides cold, dry air, leading to freezing rain, which usually
causes major disruptions in the city for a day or two if the roads and highways
become dangerously slick.

Spring and fall bring very pleasant weather to the area and are
usually the best times to visit. In the spring months, residents and visitors
appreciate the beauty of the vibrant wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush and
other flora)
which bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas. In the spring the weather can also be quite volatile and can change in a matter of
minutes. The cliché about volatile climates popular in various parts of the US—"if you don't like the weather, wait a little while and it'll change"—applies well to Dallas's spring weather. The sporadic volatility of the spring season is coupled with a
very pleasant "normality". Barring storms, Dallas in spring is very
mild and enjoyable. Similarly, late September, October, and early November is
very pleasant and is typically storm-free.

Although uncommon, with the last touch-down in 1957, tornadoes are perhaps
the biggest threat to the city of Dallas. In the spring, cool fronts moving
from Canada collide with
warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast. When these
fronts meet over Dallas, severe thunder storms are generated with spectacular
lightning shows, occasional torrents of rain, hail, and, at times, tornadoes.
They are common to the north, in Oklahoma, in the spring and summer, but the
city itself is also prone to the storms as it lies at the southern end of Tornado Alley, which
runs through the prairie lands of the Midwest. Dallas was last hit by a tornado on 2 April1957 that likely would have registered as an
F3, but it missed downtown.
In May 2000, the "Fort
Worth Tornado" hit neighboring Fort
Worth's downtown, causing damage to a pair of the city's
skyscrapers.

The Metroplex experiences a particularly acute springtime
"monsoon" season every year—around the middle of March—that rapidly
feeds a unique region-wide runoff that swells Johnson Creek (in Arlington and Grand Prairie), as well as the
West and Elm Forks of the Trinity River, onto several square miles of flood
plain inside the metro area, much of it inhabited. Every March, many
neighborhoods in these cities have 4 or more feet of water inside dwellings,
and low-lying developed areas adjacent to the Stemmons Corridor and Oak Cliff in Dallas experience severe flooding.

As of the census of 2000, there
were 1,188,580 people, 451,833 households, and 266,581 families residing in the
city proper, which is bounded by largely developed suburbs and exurbs. The population
density was 3,469.9 people per square mile (1,339.7/km²). There were
484,117 housing units at an average density of 1,413.3 per square mile
(545.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.83% White,
25.91% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.70% Asian,
0.05% Pacific Islander, 17.24% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. 35.55% of the
population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Hispanics outnumbered African-Americans
for the first time in the 2000 census as the largest minority group in Dallas. Many
newly-arrived Hispanics have settled in poorer neighborhoods such as Oak Cliff
that were once predominately African American. While Hispanics have moved in,
many African Americans have migrated further south to cities such as Cedar
Hill, Lancaster and DeSoto that until
recently were predominately White communities, while Whites in those cities
have moved to areas such as Plano, Frisco, and areas
north of Fort
Worth. Asian Americans tend to live in Garland, Irving, and much of
the Northern suburbs of Dallas.

Of the 451,833 households, 30.3% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 38.8% were married
couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no
husband present, and 41.0% are classified as non-families by the United States Census Bureau. Of 451,833 households, 23,959 are
unmarried partner households: 18,684 heterosexual, 3,615 same-sex male, and
1,660 same-sex female households. 32.9% of all households were made up of
individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the city, the population was spread out with
26.6% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 35.3% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from
45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30
years. For every 100 females there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age
18 and over, there were 100.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,628, and the
median income for a family was $40,921. Males had a median income of $31,149
versus $28,235 for females. The per capita income for
the city was $22,183. About 14.9% of families and 17.8% of the population were
below the poverty
line, including 25.1% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those aged
65 or over. In 2006 the median price for a house was $123,800, and save a 2003
recession, Dallas has seen a steady increase in the cost of homes over the past
6 years.

Economy

portion of the
downtown skyline

In its beginning, Dallas relied on farming, neighboring Fort
Worth's cattle market, and its prime location on trade routes with
Indians to sustain itself. Dallas' real key to growth came in 1873 though with
the building of multiple rail lines through the city. As Dallas grew and
technology developed, cotton became its boon. By 1900 Dallas was the largest
inland cotton market on Earth and led the world in cotton gin machinery
manufacturing. By the early 1900s, Dallas was a hub for economic activity all
over the Southwestern United States and was selected in 1914 as the seat of the Eleventh Federal Reserve District; by 1925,
Texas churned out more than ? of the nation's cotton
crop, and 31% of Texas cotton was produced within a 100 mile (161 km) radius of Dallas. In the 1930s, oil
was discovered east of Dallas near Kilgore, Texas, and Dallas' proximity to the discovery put it at the center of the nation's oil market. Oil
discoveries in the Permian
Basin, the Panhandle,
the Gulf Coast, and Oklahoma in the
following years further solidified Dallas' position as the hub of the market as
it was roughly the geographic center of all 5 regions.

In the 1980s, Dallas was a real
estate hotbed, with populations skyrocketing and the demand for housing and
jobs soaring along with it. Downtown Dallas's
largest buildings are the fruit of this boom, but over-speculation and the Savings and Loan crisis knocked the area to its knees. Between
the late 1980s and the early 2000s, Dallas suffered a lengthy recession and has
only recently bounced back. Like much of the country, the real estate market
has improved significantly in recent years.

Dallas is no longer a hotbed for manufacturing like it was in the
early 20th century—partially due to constraints placed by the DFW Ozone
Nonattainment Area—but plenty of goods are still manufactured in the city.Texas
Instruments employs 10,400 people at its corporate headquarters and
chip plants in Dallas and neighborhing Richardson. Oak
Farms Dairy also headquarters and has a plant in the city.

The city of Dallas is mostly within the Dallas Independent School District, the
twelfth-largest school district in the United States. The school district
operates independently of the city and enrolls over 161,000 students. In 2006,
one of the district's magnet
schools, The School for the Talented and Gifted, was named
the best school in the United States (among public schools) by Newsweek. Another
one of DISD's schools, the Science and Engineering Magnet, came in at
number eight in the same survey. Other DISD schools named to the list were Woodrow Wilson High School, Hillcrest and W.T.
White Highs. "Woodrow" as it is colloquially known, was also named
the top comprehensive high school in Dallas by local publication D Magazine. The
Wildcats regularly produce as many or more National Merit Scholars as local
private and suburban schools.

Many school districts in Dallas County, including Dallas ISD, are served by a
governmental agency called Dallas County Schools. The system provides busing and other
transportation services, access to a massive media library, technology
services, strong ties to local organizations for education/community
integration, and staff development programs.

Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a private, coeducational
university located in the Mountain Creek area of southwestern Dallas.
Originally in Decatur,
it moved to Dallas in 1965.The school currently enrolls over 5,100 students.

Paul
Quinn College is a private, historically Black college located
in southeast Dallas. Originally in Waco Texas, it moved
to Dallas in 1993 and is housed on the campus of the former Bishop College,
another private, historically Black college. Dallas billionaire and
entrepreneur Comer
Cottrell, Jr., founder of ProLine
Corporation, bought the campus of Bishop College and bequeathed it to Paul
Quinn College in 1993.The school enrolls 3,000 undergraduate students.

The City of Dallas maintains and operates 406 parks on 21,000 acres of parkland. Its flagship park is the
260 acre Fair Park which was
originally developed to host the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. The city is also home to Texas's first and largest zoo at 95 acres— the Dallas Zoo, which
first opened in 1888.

The city's parks contain 17 separate lakes, including White Rock and Bachman lakes,
spanning a total of 4,400 acres. The city is criss-crossed with 61.6 miles of bike & jogging trails, including
the Katy Trail, and is home to 47 community and neighborhood
recreation centers, 276 sports fields, 60 swimming pools, 232 playgrounds, 173
basketball courts, 112 volleyball courts, 126 play slabs, 258 neighborhood
tennis courts, 258 picnic areas, six 18-hole golf courses, two driving ranges,
and 477 athletic fields.

There are always generous
portions of tourist attractions in Dallas, Texas. It doesn’t
matter if you are a lover of art, barbecues, music, rodeos,
sunshine or tall tales, because Dallas has enough to go around for everyone. Dallas signifies the popular image of Texas. It is a major business hub known for its oil
and gas, but also for its restaurants and shopping. But it is certainly not
just cold hearted business. You will be welcomed by the ambiance of integrity.
Dallas travel will open you up to the arts without even knowing it from the
modern architecture of its buildings to museums at Fair Park. Let your
unconscious soak up all of Dallas culture, while you enjoy the sights and
sounds of your Dallas vacation.

One of Dallas Texas attractions everyone needs to see is Fair Park. It covers 277-acres of land that is
full of art deco buildings, several museums, sporting facilities and
amphitheaters. You can spend a whole day here and not come close to seeing it
all. Remember, that in the spring and fall, the weather is perfect, so
strolling through this park would be a marvelous idea. The Starplex
Amphitheater is one of the cities top concert venues. You will see people young
and old jamming out to a number of musical bands. The crowds of Fair Park is at its height during the State Fair of Texas. This is at the tail end of the
summer, when the temperatures wane.

There are many museums
that you should visit, including the Women’s Museum, Hall of State, the African-American Museum and the Age of the Steam Railroad Museum. Other attractions in Dallas you must see are the Sixth Floor Museum,
Meadows Museum of Art, the Dallas Zoo, and the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Anyone
who takes a Dallas vacation needs to go see the Sixth Floor Museum. It is a preservation of the spot where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his rifle at President
Kennedy. It also goes into detail about the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy.
Here you will find an overflow of documentary footage and over 400 photos to
give you a chance to figure out the true story of that day in 1963.

The Dallas zoo simply
needs to be apart of your Dallas vacation. It is the oldest zoo in Texas. It has been around since before the dawn of the industrial revolution in 1888. It
has become home to Sumatran tigers and chimpanzees among others, and you can
experience these animals while riding on a monorail safari tour.

Other attractions in Dallas to see are the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens and the Old City Park. The Old City Park is a sentiment from late 19th-century that is finished with old
western standards like train-depot, general store, church and schoolhouse. It
is family oriented and gives the younger siblings the chance to have a showdown
with the older ones.

One of the biggest Dallas Texas attractions is shopping. Dallas residents like to boast that they have more
shopping per capita in Dallas than any other city in the United States. If shopping is one of your pastimes, then heaven awaits. One place to visit is the Greenville Avenue that finds its flair in selling vintage clothing, antiques and other funky
items.

If they are going to put
all these tourist attractions in one place for people to run around and get
tired doing, then rest assured that they are going to have phenomenal food at
the end of the day. This way you can have plenty of energy for another day of Dallas travel.

Dallas Zoo

With 95 acres to explore,
thousands of animals to visit, and a huge variety of family activities, the
Dallas Zoo is enormously entertaining! Our goal is to make your visit an
exciting adventure with opportunities to learn about interesting wildlife,
engage in interactive fun, and support worldwide conservation and research to
protect and preserve endangered species.

Zoo Facts:

The Dallas Zoo was
founded in 1888, making it the first zoological park in the Southwest.

Our park covers 95
developed acres! In terms of landmass, it’s the largest zoological park in Texas.

Texas Stadium
After
over 30 years of existence, Texas Stadium is still one of the NFL's best
stadiums, and one of the most unique stadiums in the league. After several
years of playing at the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys wanted a new state of
the art stadium exclusively for themselves. After bonds were passed allowing a
stadium to be built, construction began in the late 1960's. The Dallas Cowboys
played their first game at Texas Stadium on October 24, 1971.

Texas Stadium became one
of the NFL's most unique stadiums upon opening. The stadium is partially domed.
A hole is in the center of the roof which allows fans to stay dry but leaves
the field open to the elements outside. Over 65,000 blue seats in two tiers
extend around the gridiron. Two Diamond Vision scoreboard/video-boards are
located inside Texas Stadium. The stadium has many amenities that include 381
luxury suites, a stadium club where fans gather for parties and banquets, and
The Corral, which provides food, beverages, entertainment and large screen
televisions for fans before, during and after all Cowboys games. Flags
commemorating the Cowboys five Super Bowl championships are hung from the roof.
Funding for a new stadium for the team was passed in November 2004 and the
Cowboys will move into the new stadium in 2008. The future of Texas Stadium
after the team moves out is unknown.

The aquarium features
more than 85,000 gallons (321,800 L) of saltwater with marine life from around
the world. Walk through the 22,000-gallon (83,280 L) tunnel to experience a
panoramic view of reef life. Many animals found at the top of the food chain
can be seen in the Predators exhibit. Ten 2,000-gallon (7,571 l) displays
present marine life from around the world - Palau, Southern Australia, Lord Howe Island, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Bahamas, British Columbia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Japan. Representing the waters of four continents, three oceans and various
seas, the aquarium gives a glimpse of the underwater world.

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limited to, historical, cultural, statistical or demographic information of any
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